Strawberry plant Virginia

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of strawberry (Fragaria L.) called &#34;Virginia&#34; is disclosed. The variety is a cross between &#34;Chandler&#34; and &#34;230&#34; which results in a variety that flowers several months earlier than most other known strawberry varieties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry (Fragaria L.) called "Virginia". The variety was developed from an organized scientifically designated breeding program carried out at the Agricultural Research Organization, the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel. The variety is the product of selection of seedings resulting from crosses between the strawberry varieties "Chandler" and "230". The variety was asexually vegetatively propagated through runners and the reproduction ran true.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The new variety "Virginia" is able to grow in September and produce fruit starting in November and lasting until summer. The production of fruit beginning in November is two months earlier than short-day strawberry varieties and within a similar time frame of strawberry varieties "Shalom" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,876), "Smadar" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,865), "Saaid" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,870), "Dorit" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,689), "Sharon" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,881). The fruit of the "Virginia" variety is characterized by good taste, good shape and size as well as a long shelf life.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1.--Photograph of the "Virginia" variety illustrating the fruit.

FIG. 2.--Photograph of the "Virginia" variety illustrating a cross-section of the fruit.

FIG. 3.--Photograph of the "Virginia" variety illustrating the entire plant with foliage, flowers and fruit.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The "Virginia" variety was grown in winter under polyethylene tunnels in Israel. "Virginia" is a an infra short-day strawberry variety. Infra short-day varieties are induced to initiate flower bud primordia in response to relatively long light regimes (but under short-day conditions) and are relatively insensitive to night temperatures. Flowering and fruit production is not affected by the use of polyethylene wind tunnels. This production procedure is utilized in normal agricultural practices by the skilled artisan and does not involve temperature or light control. Mother plants were stored at 0° C. from January through April. They were then planted in the nursery without further treatment. Runners with plantlets were produced during summer. These young plantlets were collected from the nursery in September and transferred to raised beds. Average temperatures at that time of the year are 30° C. during the day and 22° C. at night. Water and fertilizers were applied through drip irrigation. An August 25 and September 15 with the approximate date of flowering on October 1-10 and the approximate date of first fruiting on November 1. "Virginia" flowering is not induced by chilling, but by natural exposure to shortening day length. Color readings described herein were taken under natural light conditions and color identifications were made by reference to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (RHSCC) except where common terms of color definition are employed.

The pertinent characteristics of the present invention are presented in Table 1 and Table 2. Additionally, the variety "Virginia" (1) has no tendency toward fruit malformation; (2) disease resistance appears normal in that no particular problematic conditions arose during trials; and (3) the type of bearing is not remontant (e.g., "Virginia" blooms perpetuously, during late fall and winter).

The fruit is longer than broad, with first order and second order fruit possessing similar shapes (Table 2). The fruit is medium to firm with a red color (Table 2).

The variety "Virginia" flowers several months earlier than known strawberry varieties. One of the closest known varieties would be "Karina" (Table 1), and the new varieties mentioned supra; e.g., U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,881 ("Sharon"), U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,876 ("Shalom"), U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,865 ("Smadar"), U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,870 ("Saaid"), and U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,869 ("Dorit"). Additionally, early flowering results in early fruit production for "Virginia" and the two varieties; "Ofra", subject of U.S. Plant Patent Application Ser. No. 07/823,638, filed Jan. 22, 1992, and "Nama", subject of U.S. Plant Patent Application Ser. No. 07/823,721, filed Jan. 22, 1992. Total Soluble Solids (TSS), marketable appearance, fruit color, sepal appearance, firmness, pressure defects and general health are presented in Table 3 by comparison to the co-pending varieties as well as the short-day variety, "Douglas" (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,487).

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         PLANT CHARACTERISTICS OF "VIRGINIA"                                            MORPHOLOGICAL              COMPARABLE                                          TRAIT        DESCRIPTION.sup.a                                                                            VARIETY.sup.b                                       ______________________________________                                         Classification                                                                              Botanical-                                                                     Fragaria L.                                                       Plant habit  Flat-Globose  "Sengana"                                           Plant density                                                                               Dense                                                             Plant vigor  Strong        "Grande"                                            Leaf:                                                                          a) Length    115-155 mm                                                        b) Width     100-115 mm                                                        c) Color                                                                       1) Upper Side:                                                                              Medium to Dark                                                                 Green                                                             d) Blistering                                                                               Medium                                                            e) Cross-section                                                                            Concave                                                           f) # of leaflets                                                                            Sometimes >3                                                      Terminal leaflet                                                               a) Length/Width                                                                ratio        Longer thn Borad                                                  b) Shape of base                                                                            Obtuse                                                            c) Shape of teeth                                                                           Obtuse                                                            d) Length    50-65 mm                                                          e) Width     50-60 mm                                                          Flower                                                                         a) Size      Large                                                             b) Size of calyx to                                                            corolla      Similar to Large                                                  c) Size of inner calyx                                                         versus outer calyx                                                                          Similar                                                           d) Spacing of petals                                                                        Overlapping                                                       e) Diameter                                                                    1) First order                                                                              30 mm                                                             2) Second order                                                                             25 mm                                                             f) Petal length/width                                                                       As Long as Broad                                                  1) length 11-14 mm                                                             2) width 11-15 mm                                                              g) Time of flowering                                                                        Very early    "Karina".sup.c                                      Petiole                                                                        a) Pose of hairs                                                                            Outwards                                                          b) Length    55-90 mm                                                          Fruiting truss:                                                                Attitude     Prostate                                                          Inflorescence                                                                  a) Position relative                                                           to foliage   Above                                                             ______________________________________                                          .sup.a The description of "Virginia" is based on the test guidlines for        Fragaria L. of the International Union for the Protection of New Plant         Varieties, (UPOV).                                                             .sup.b Only characteristics which are relevant for comparing varieties ar      listed. For example, there are no varietal differences acknowledged in th      characteristic "color of lower side of leaf".                                  .sup.c "Virginia" flowers at the end of October. One of the earliest know      varieties for comparison is "Karina", which flowers in January.                Additionally, "Virginia" flowers within approximately the time range as        strawberry varieties "Shalom" (U.S. Plant Patent 7876), "Smadar" (U.S.         Plant Patent 7865), "Saaid" (U.S. Plant Patent 7870), "Dorit" (U.S. Plant      Patent 7869), "Sharon" (U.S. Plant Patent 7881), as well as "Ofra" and         "Nama", described in U.S. Plant Patent Application Ser. No. 07/823,638,        filed Jan. 22, 1992, and U. S. Plant Patent Application Ser. No.               07/823,721, filed Jan. 22, 1992, respectively.                           

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS OF "VIRGINIA"                                            CHARACTERISTICS      DESCRIPTION                                               ______________________________________                                         Time of ripening     Very Early                                                Ratio of length/maximum width                                                                       Longer than broad                                         Size                 Large                                                     First Order                                                                    a) Predominant Shape Wedged                                                    b) Length            40-50 mm                                                  c) Width             34-42 mm                                                  d) Thickness         30-38 mm                                                  e) Weight            23 g                                                      Second Order                                                                   a) Predominant Shape Wedged                                                    b) Length            34-44 mm                                                  c) Width             32-38 mm                                                  d) Thickness         25-32 mm                                                  e) Weight            19 g                                                      Difference in Shape Between First                                              Order and Second Order Fruit                                                                        None or Very Slight                                       Band without achenes Narrow                                                    Unevenness of surface                                                                               Absent or very weak                                       Color                Red                                                       Evenness of color    Even                                                      Glossiness           Strong                                                    Insertion of achenes Below surface                                             Insertion of calyx   At Level                                                  Pose of calyx segments                                                                              Reflexed                                                  Size of calyx in relation to                                                   fruit diameter       Similar                                                   Adherence of calyx   Strong                                                    Firmness             Medium Firm                                               Color of flesh       Red                                                       Evenness of flesh color                                                                             Slightly uneven                                           ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         COMPARATIVE SHELF-LIFE AND                                                     FLAVOR OF "VIRGINIA"                                                                                              Mar-                                        Percentage             Se-         ket-                                               Pres-                                                                               Firmness.sup.a                                                                            pal         able                                                     sure        New-  ap-  Fruit                                                                               ap-   Sugar                           Vari-        de-    Vis- ton   pear-                                                                               co-  pear- content                         ety  Health  fects  ual  units ance.sup.b                                                                          lor.sup.c                                                                           ance.sup.d                                                                           T.S.S..sup.e                    ______________________________________                                         First test:                                                                    at harvest date                                                                Vir- 100      0       5  4.2   5    3.5  4.0   8.5                             ginia                                                                          Ofra.sup.f                                                                          100      0       5  6.0   5    4.0  4.5   9.6                             Na-  100      0       5  3.7   5    3.5  4.0   8.0                             ma.sup.g                                                                       Douglas.sup.h                                                                  100       0       5    3.7   5    4.5  4.0   6.5                               Second test:                                                                   After 3 days of storage at 2° C.                                        Vir- 80      20     3.5  3.5   4    4.2  3.8                                   ginia                                                                          Ofra 92       8     4.0  6.0   4    4.2  4.4                                   Na-  78      22     3.5  3.0   4    4.0  3.7                                   ma                                                                             Douglas                                                                        76       24     3.7    3.5   4    5.0  3.7                                     Third test:                                                                    after 3 days storage at 2° C. plus                                      2 additional days at simulated shelf temperature of 18° C.              Vir- 50      50     3.0  2.8   3.0  4.5  3.2                                   ginia                                                                          Ofra 55      45     3.5  5.5   3.2  4.5  3.5                                   Na-  44      56     3.0  3.0   3.0  4.5  3.0                                   ma                                                                             Douglas                                                                        45       55     3.0    3.0   3.2  5.0  3.2                                     ______________________________________                                          INDEX:                                                                         .sup.a 5hard 1soft                                                             .sup.b 5green, fresh like, 1dry, brown                                         .sup.c 5dark red, 1green, pink                                                 .sup.d 5prime 1not marketable                                                  .sup.e Total Soluble Solids (T.S.S.) expresses fruit sweetness and was         determined with a refractometer                                                .sup.f U.S. Plant Patent Application Ser. No. 07/823,721, filed January        22, 1992.                                                                      .sup.g U.S. Plant Patent Application Ser. No. 07/823,721, filed January        22, 1992.                                                                      .sup.h U.S. Plant Patent No. 4,487                                        

What is claimed is:
 1. A new distinct variety of strawberry plant substantially as illustrated and described and distinguished as being able to grow in September and produce fruit starting in November and lasting until summer, with fruit having a good taste and shape and a long shelf life. 